[THEAUSTRALIAN.AU] AN Australian soldier and a New Zealand soldier have been maimed in an "insider attack" after an Afghan soldier opened fire during a meeting in northern Afghanistan.
Australian soldiers returned fire and shot the Afghan National Security Force soldier, the Defence Department said in a statement. It's not clear if the Afghan soldier was killed, Defence says, however, news agencies report he was rubbed out.
The attack happened on Saturday morning in the Qargha region near Kabul as Australian soldiers were meeting with trainee Afghan officers.
Australian and other ISAF personnel are helping to train and skill those attending the Afghan National Army Officer Academy there.
The New Zealand soldier was maimed in the initial attack, with reports saying he was shot in the leg, while the Australian suffered minor fragmentation wounds while providing protection. He is expected to return to duty shortly.
Acting Chief of the Defence Force, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, says others could have been hit if not for the quick response of Australian soldiers at the meeting.
"From initial reporting, it would appear that our soldiers reacted promptly and professionally, potentially saving any other ISAF or Afghan personnel from sustaining wounds or worse," Air Marshal Binskin said. "It is impossible to completely remove the threat of insider attacks, but the actions of the ADF Force Protection soldiers demonstrate that our training and force protection techniques are appropriate and prepared to respond, when incidents such as this occur."
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10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Good thing the ANZ soldiers were allowed to have guns - loaded - at the meeting.
[Shabelle] Heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy... between Somali federal government and AL-Shabaab hard boyz broke out in Lower Shabelle province.
Eyewitnesses told Shabelle Media Network by phone that confrontation occurred at checkpoint patrolled by Somali federal government troops in highway links Afgoye to Walaweyn in lower Shabelle region.
Somali military Officials in Afgoye who contacted to Shabelle Media Network stated that Somali forces were ambushed by Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... fighters and repulsed by government forces but declined to discover the casualty figures on their side.
Districts and residences in lower Shabelle region witnessed battles in the past days.
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BELED HAWO, Somalia -- Ethiopian troops in armored fighting vehicles reached Gedo region town of Beled Hawo in the early hours of Saturday morning to resolve grudges between Somali government forces and pro-government militia of Ahlu Sunah Wal Jamea , Garowe Online reports.
"Don't make us come up there!"
Witnesses reported that Ethiopian soldiers have made temporary positions on the outskirts of Beled Hawo where Ethiopian force commanders are discussing the Friday clashes between Somali government forces and Ahlu Sunah Wal Jamea militia with the Somali Federal Government officials including Beled Hawo mayor and Somali National Army (SNA) commanders in the border region.
Independent sources in Beled Hawo confirmed to Garowe Online that Ethiopians requested to both sides to arrange ceasefire and proceed to holding negotiations over the matter with Mogadishu-based Federal Government and Ahlu Sunah representatives present.
"Youse guys had better starting negotiating. Or else..."
On Friday, Somali Federal Government forces and Ahlu Sunah militia clashed in Gedo regional district of Beled Hawo, leaving three fighters from the opposing sides dead according to the residents.
Wrangles over looming threats of instability in the town of Beled Hawo yesterday degenerated into deadly fighting, sources said.
Ahlu Sunah Wal Jamea spokesman, Sheikh Mohamed Hussein Al Qaadi told the media that the clashes erupted between Ahlu Sunah militia backed by Somali government soldiers and illegal militiamen from Doolow district.
Beled Hawo witnesses grenade attacks which mainly targeted the Somali government officials.
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10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Residents in Zawia have been staging a protest in its main square, Martyrs Square, against the local council, the General National Congress and the government. Protestors claim that the council and Congress, in particular, are dominated by the Moslem Brüderbund.
Demonstrations were said to have been launched from several mosques in the town against the Moslem Brüderbund after Friday prayers yesterday, demanding changes in both bodies.
According to former Zawia Local Council member Abdulfattah Ammar, the protests started on Wednesday afternoon, after Dhuhur prayers with "hundreds of people" converging on the square. "There were young and old people at the protest from all walks of life with no political orientation demanding the GNC a change course," he stressed.
However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... according to the head of Zawia Local Council, Mohammed Khathrawi, the protestors, who he said had been attending the funeral of one of the town's revolutionaries, were not against the Brotherhood. Rather they were calling for better performances by the council and government and changes in the GNC. Members of the council, he told the Libya Herald, had gone to the square to negotiate with them.
This latter is denied by Ammar who insists that the local council did not react to the protests nor did it enter into dialogue with the protesters.
The French are mobilising around 600 troops from the "Desert" joint tactical group, supported by Tiger and Gazelle attack helicopters.
The chief of staff of the French armed forces, Admiral Edouard Guillaud, was quoted by AFP as saying that the "disorganization of the terrorist networks" was a priority for the Serval troops.
"There are still areas where terrorist groups are gathering residually," one officer revealed. "We must explore them in depth in order to reduce their logistical potential by intercepting their supply chains."
According to analyst Daha Ould Sidi Ali, "the upsurge in activity on the part of terrorist groups in northern Mali proves that they are still there".
"Over the past few weeks, pick-up trucks laden with explosives, shells and large quantities of handguns and assault weapons have been discovered," he noted.
According to observers, the recent Tessalit attack means that the number of MINUSMA troops, currently at 6,000, urgently needs to be increased to more than 12,000 by the end of the year. Yet La Belle France plans to reduce the number of its soldiers from 3,000 to 1,000 by the end of January 2014.
Kadré Desiré Ouedraogo, the president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said Wednesday that the organization needed "to encourage the member states and other countries to respond to the call to reinforce MINUSMA".
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie sadly admitted that he was a better peeping Tom than he was a comedian... the inhabitants of northern Mali are exasperated at the return of violence. Myriam Toure, a trader in Gao, said: "The north has been ravaged and abandoned. What worries us the most is the weakness of the Malian state."
"What will happen to us if the foreign troops pull out? In any case, they are our only hope now. And because of all that, we don't feel safe at the moment and we're really losing sleep over this rise in the number of attacks," she told Magharebia.
Terrorism expert Sidati Ould Cheikh said: "In the current situation, it is clear that the central Malian authorities lack the means and the capacity to tackle the big security challenge single-handedly, so the international community must continue to provide support for some time to come"
"The international troops should double their efforts to eradicate these groups, which are completely unpredictable and very difficult to fight," he added.
Due to the deteriorating security situation in Mali and the region as a whole, the terrorist threat faced by Niger has become more serious. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Mali's Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), and Nigeria's Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... have also conducted operations in Niger.
Niger has been on high alert since June. After the attacks in Arlit and Agadez, the jihadists are now turning their attention to the capital. Confrontations have taken place in Niamey Prison.
Nigerien Justice Minister and government front man Marou Amadou said, "There needs to be a sense of responsibility, because Niger is now at war. We need there to be a sense of responsibility for our compatriots."
People in Niamey are living in fear. But there are signs that the country may turn the tide.
"In August, a broad-based national unity government was created in Niger by a Touareg prime minister, Brigi Rafini, at the behest of President Mahamadou Issoufou. The main task of this government is to resolve the problem of insecurity in the country with the jihadist threat and the kidnappings in the north of the country," Sidati Ould Cheikh said.
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10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] Residents in Zawia have been staging a protest in its main square, Martyrs Square, against the local council, the General National Congress and the government. Protestors claim that the council and Congress, in particular, are dominated by the Moslem Brüderbund.
Demonstrations were said to have been launched from several mosques in the town against the Moslem Brüderbund after Friday prayers yesterday, demanding changes in both bodies.
According to former Zawia Local Council member Abdulfattah Ammar, the protests started on Wednesday afternoon, after Dhuhur prayers with "hundreds of people" converging on the square. "There were young and old people at the protest from all walks of life with no political orientation demanding the GNC a change course," he stressed.
However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... according to the head of Zawia Local Council, Mohammed Khathrawi, the protestors, who he said had been attending the funeral of one of the town's revolutionaries, were not against the Brotherhood. Rather they were calling for better performances by the council and government and changes in the GNC. Members of the council, he told the Libya Herald, had gone to the square to negotiate with them.
This latter is denied by Ammar who insists that the local council did not react to the protests nor did it enter into dialogue with the protesters.
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10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A bomb went kaboom! Saturday in the car of an electoral official in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi causing damage but no casualties, an official said.
"The car that blew up belongs to Idriss al-Ghadi, an official with the municipal elections committee," said the official who declined to be named.
"The car was parked in a lot outside a school in the Majuri district which is being used as center for the committee organizing the elections," he told Agence La Belle France Presse.
No one was hurt in the blast but five cars belonging to committee members, who were attending a training session in the school, were damaged.
Libya is planning to hold municipal elections in Benghazi but no date has yet been set.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
To a true Moslems Elections are dirty, dirty, dirty. Allah hates that sort of thing. Go wash your hands.
[Al Ahram] Students at Al-Azhar University in Cairo's Nasr City district staged what they called "anti-coup" demonstrations on campus Saturday as tensions rise between them and security forces.
Groups of students have been protesting what they call a "military coup" that toppled Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... . They reject the country's interim leadership and call for Morsi's reinstatement.
On Saturday, dozens of students protested at Al-Azhar's Faculty of Arabic Language, chanting slogans like "One word, always remember ... The soldiers will not rule us."
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Bugs Moroni was holding Slats from behind while his brother Greasy Thumb was pounding his face into paste ... the university closed down its administration building, where students had been protesting for a week, for "renovations," Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
Pro-Morsi students continue to vow more action. They announced on social media websites that they are planning "a surprise" move on Monday, saying it will be an escalation in their protest.
On 17 October, students' protests at Al-Azhar broke into violence when police intervened to disperse what they said was a non-peaceful demonstration. The interior ministry said in a statement that police only fired teargas at students after they rioted outside the university gates and blocked roads around campus to traffic.
At least seven students were tossed in the calaboose Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! and a policeman was injured, according to security sources.
The university's student union, however, said that 30 students were arrested.
Al-Azhar University belongs to Al-Azhar Institution, Egypt's highest Sunni-Islam authority.
Mohammed Morsi was deposed by the armed forces 3 July after mass nationwide protests against his rule. The ouster was part of a roadmap agreed upon by many political forces, including Al-Azhar and the Coptic Church.
Morsi's supporters, led by the Moslem Brüderbund from which he hails, have been protesting since, calling for his reinstatement.
Tensions have been building between pro-Morsi protesters and the police amid a crackdown by security forces on the Moslem Brüderbund, with hundreds killed or nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! since pro-Morsi sit-ins were forcibly dispersed mid-August.
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10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Hundreds demonstrated on Saturday in downtown's Talaat Harb square against the newly proposed draft protest law, rallying under the banner "the street is ours."
Following a call to protest made by the 'Way of the Revolution Front,' demonstrators chanted "Down with the rule of the Interior Ministry...down with military rule" as they marched through the streets of downtown Cairo.
Meanwhile, in the same Talaat Harb square, tens demonstrated under the banner "No to terrorism," referring to the escalating militant attacks targeting police and military since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi on 3 July.
As the anti-protest law demonstration chanted against the military, the 'No to terrorism' protesters rallied in the military's favor. Arguments and minor scuffles erupted between the two groups.
The anti-protest law march ended at Mohamed Mahmoud Street, the street leading to the Ministry of Interior headquarters.
The draft law, which was proposed by the cabinet in mid-February, has ignited public debate, with critics arguing that it infringes on Egyptian citizens' basic rights and freedoms.
Among the law's most controversial measures is a proposed clause allowing the interior minister or senior police officials to cancel, postpone or change the location of a protest. The law also permits governors to designate "protest-free" areas near state buildings.
Responding to growing criticism, Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi said last week that the draft law could be amended after dialogue with political forces and parties.
The Way of the Revolution Front, which called for the anti-protest law demonstration, was launched on 24 September, aiming to provide an alternative to the current "polarisation" between the military and Muslim Brotherhood.
The Front coalition includes leading members of the April 6 Youth Movement, the Strong Egypt Party, the Revolutionary Socialists and the Justice and Freedom Youth.
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10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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At least five people were killed and hundreds others injured in sporadic clashes between BNP-Jamaat activists and Police-Awami League activists in three districts centering 18-partys rally Friday.
In Coxs Bazar, at least two people killed and many others injured at Chakaria upazila in a clash between BNP-Jamaat and law enforcers on Friday. The clash triggered while BNP broke out procession amid section 144 in the district. Chakaria Thana Officer-in-Charge Ranajit Kumar confirmed the death of two persons.
In Chandpur, two people were killed and 25 people others were injured including three cops and a journalist in a triangular clash near bus stand area under Faridganj upazila of the district in the afternoon.
In Nilphamari, a Shibir activist was killed in a clash with police.
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[Pak Daily Times] Indian troops rubbed out three Pak smugglers carrying drugs worth millions of dollars as they sought to sneak into India through Punjab, a border security official said Saturday. India's paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF), which patrols the India-Pakistain border, said it found 24 kilogrammes of heroin worth 1.2 billion rupees ($19.5 million), along with weapons, ammunition and Pakistain mobile phones late Friday. "Last night, three Pak intruders crossed over to the Indian territory and were challenged by the BSF night patrol, but the intruders declined to surrender and fired gun shots at the BSF," Ajay Tomar, Punjab BSF Inspector General, told news hounds. "In retaliation, BSF troops fired 19 rounds and the intruders were killed on the spot." A massive search has been launched to check for any other people crossing illegally from Pakistain in the area near the Wagah international border crossing, he said. Wagah is the only road border crossing between the Indian city of Amritsar and Lahore. Local media reported last week that the BSF had seized 100 kilogrammes of heroin worth five billion rupees ($81 million) in the last two months, adding that drug trafficking had spiked at the border, which prompted BSF to increase round-the-clock patrolling. Punjab, once the wealthiest state in Asia's third-largest economy, has now become a key smuggling route for drugs that come in from Pakistain and Afghanistan.
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[Pak Daily Times] Two personnel of Frontier Corps (FC) who were escorting buses of Shia pilgrims were killed in a boom-mobile in Mastung district of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , some 40 kilometres southwest of Quetta, on Saturday. According to Levies officials, a convoy of FC and Levies was escorting Iran-bound buses of Shia pilgrims on Quetta-Taftan Highway when security personnel spotted a suspicious vehicle parked along the road in Dringar area of Mastung. The FC personnel stopped the convoy and got off to search the vehicle. As they reached closer to the vehicle a huge blast occurred, killing two FC personnel on the spot, Levies officials said, adding that the pilgrims remained unharmed in the attack. Talking to newsmen, Mastung Assistant Commissioner Shafqat Anwar confirmed the incident and said that it was a remote-controlled kaboom and apparently the Shia pilgrims were the prime target. After the incident, the security personnel cordoned off the area and the pilgrims were safely escorted from the area to their destination. The dear departed FC personnel were identified as Subadar Farhatullah and Sepoy Farman. No group had grabbed credit for the attack until the filing of this report.
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[Pak Daily Times] Clashes between two rival groups in Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... continued on the third consecutive day and claimed the lives of at least eleven more people and maimed around one dozen, on Saturday.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido stepped from behind the suit of armor, rapier in hand. Ciccolini snarled and reached for his own weapon... law enforcers claimed to have killed an alleged gangster and tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! several. As per details, gunfire and kabooms continued on the third consecutive day between the gang of notorious gangster Baba Ladla and the outlawed Peoples Amn Committee (PAC). On Thursday three innocent people were killed, however, on the second consecutive day of gang war, two members of Baba Ladla, one of Uzair Baloch and one innocent person was killed during the festivities. A notorious gangster, Jabbar Langra of Ladla's group, was killed in an alleged encounter with the Rangers.
The gang war worsened on the third day and claimed the lives of at least eleven people. The bodies of four men were found from separate areas of Baghdadi Police Station. Three of them were identified as those of Younus Masih, Fahim Baloch, Mohsin. According to Baghdadi SHO all the dear departed belonged to a gang. They were believed to have been killed after being kidnapped, and all of them had torture marks and multiple bullets wounds. Four more bodies were found from separate areas of Kalakot Police Station, while three Baloch men were found dead from Atah Chowk. However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... their identities have yet to be ascertained. Three more people were killed in Agra Taj Colony and Kharadar localities. The routine and commercials activities were suspended in Lyari as armed gangs clashed in narrow streets, hurling hand grenades on each other and compelling the residents to stay inside their homes. Both groups' members resorted to indiscriminate firing as well as use of hand grenades, rockets and mortal shells.
Residents of the affected area confirmed that they have been restricted to their houses following the intense violence. Along with food shortage, the residents also faced power blackouts as several electricity PMTs were damaged in the ongoing fighting. Earlier, on the night between Friday and Saturday, an alleged gangster, Yousuf Shah, who belonged to the Baba Ladla group, was killed during an alleged encounter when police and Rangers conducted an operation in Lyari.
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea, one that didn't involve kerosene... four alleged gangsters associated with the Wasihullah Lakho group of Lyari gangsters were also apprehended. A huge cache of hand grenades, weapons and ammunitions was also recovered. Law enforcers, including Rangers and police, have been patrolling the affected areas but the firing from the groups continued.
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10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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Ten cars rigged with explosives detonated in Shi'ite Muslim areas in and around Baghdad Oct. 27 , and a suicide bomber attacked soldiers lined up for their pay in northern Iraq, killing 49 people in total, police said.
Sunday's deadliest attack happened in Mosul, when a man driving a car blew himself up outside a government bank where soldiers were waiting to collect their salaries. Twelve people were killed.
37 more people died in seemingly coordinated blasts in and around Baghdad. In the worst of those, two car bombs blew up moments apart near a busy market in the town of Nahrawan, south of Baghdad, killing seven.
In Baladiyat, where another car bomb killed three people, eyewitness Suad Ahmed said, "I was eating my breakfast when a powerful blast shook the building, shattering the window of my apartment and covering the dining table with pieces of glass. I was terrified, I heard women and children shouting next door. I started to cry. I was afraid of death."
#2
The bright side is that no Americans were within miles of the place and everybody dripping down the walls today were all Moslems. AND they paid for it themselves and it didn't cost us a damn dime.
[Al Ahram] Attacks in Iraq killed 10 people on Saturday, seven of them from the same family, security and medical officials said.
In the Dura area of southern Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , gunnies armed with silenced weapons rubbed out a father, mother, four sons and the wife of one of them at their home, the officials said.
The father was a member of the Sahwa anti-Al-Qaeda militia, who joined forces with the United States from late 2006 and are frequently targeted by Sunni Death Eaters, who view them as traitors.
In the Mansur area of west Storied Baghdad, a lawyer was killed by a magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to his car.
And gunnies opened fire on a bus carrying Shia pilgrims in Balad, north of Storied Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 11. It was unclear if they were Iraqis or not.
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10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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The Philippine military on Friday reported that heavily-armed guerrillas from the communist New People's Army (NPA) kidnapped six candidates in Agusan del Sur province who are running in the Oct.28 barangay (village) election just three days away.
Lieutenant General Rainer Cruz also said a soldier was injured during a clash in their pursuit operation against the 30 NPA militants who abducted the candidates in the town of Loreto on Thursday morning.
Cruz said the abduction was the latest indication of the NPA's desire to influence the Oct.28 election in which the positions at stake are those for village chairmen and councilmen. To achieve this the militants would harass candidates who either refused their promise of support or rejected their demand for the payment of fees so they could campaign in "NPA-controlled areas".
This practice was not new, but Cruz noted the militants have introduced a new twist based on military intelligence information and captured NPA documents. He said the NPA promised to ensure the victory in the polls of candidates willing to pay them various amounts every month -- $12 each for village chairmen and $5 for councilmen.
o Town's mixed schools segregated and shop businesses intimidated
o 200 residents have pledged loyalty to the group as rebels face arrest
[DailyMail] Sixty Syrians have been kidnapped and imprisoned by Al-Qaeda bully boyz trying to set up a state ruled by a supreme religious and political leader across the country.
Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) have targeted a town near the Turkish border where 200 residents have already pledged loyalty to the group.
The local sharia court has been taken over by 'foreigners', schools with mixed sexes up to the age of six have been segregated and businesses intimidated.
Last month, al-Qaeda seized the town of Azaz, - until recently the main centre for foreign aid delivery - from a moderate rebels, the Times reported.
Speaking by Skype, activist Mahmoud told the paper: 'People are afraid. If ISIS knows you hate them, they will arrest you.'
There are signs and wall murals heralding the coming of the caliphate, or religious state.
'They have been visiting people in their shops, telling them they have to work to make the caliphate," added Mahmoud.
ISIS, believed to number up to 8,000 fighters, have learned from their mistakes in Libya where they fought against Colonel Gadaffi's army but won no land when he was defeated.
Now they hand out free food and petrol and pay for streets to be cleaned as they woo the 40,000 residents.
In local squares, speakers promote Jihad, resisting President Assad's regime and offering activities for children.
ISIS also picks fights with rival rebel groups, attacking them then ruthlessly taking control of their territories.
Another activist Mohannad, who spoke in Turkey after leaving Syria the previous day told the Times: 'If ISIS have a problem with you, they say you are a kaffir [infidel] and they kill you. None of the other brigades would do this.'
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10/27/2013 10:31 ||
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#1
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, aren't these the guys that Obastardo wanted us to help and has given guns to?
It's things like this that make me want pencilneck to win for a while.
[An Nahar] Fierce festivities raged Saturday after Syrian Kurds seized from jihadists a crossing on the Iraqi border, a key supply route for weapons and fighters in the 31-month war, activists said.
Fighters from both sides were killed in the border festivities, which came a day after Syria's regime and its opponents traded blame for a car kaboom on a mosque that left dozens dead.
The Kurds "took control of the Al-Yaarubia border crossing with Iraq at dawn after festivities with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the Al-Nusra Front and other rebels," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, citing activists.
The Kurds have been struggling to carve out an autonomous northeastern region similar to one in northern Iraq, further complicating the Syrian war.
Rebels battling to oust Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... have increasingly turned their guns on each other in the past few months, with jihadists fighting the mainstream Free Syrian Army in the north, where the snuffies control vast swathes of territory.
The seizure of the border post would be another blow for the Islamists. State television said late Friday that Al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani had been killed, but the Al-Qaeda-linked group said he was in good health.
The conflict flared when Assad's opponents took up arms in response to his regime's brutal crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired protests that erupted in March 2011.
More than 115,000 people are estimated to have been killed, millions uprooted from their homes and tens of thousands trapped by the relentless fighting.
Saturday's violence comes a day after a boom-mobile outside a mosque in Suq Wadi Barada, a town near Damascus, killed at least 40 people and maimed dozens more, according to the Observatory.
State news agency SANA said "the car went kaboom! while the snuffies were packing it with explosives," using the regime term for rebels.
The opposition National Coalition blamed the regime for the "massacre" caused by what it said were two boom-mobiles placed outside the Osama Bin Zeid mosque.
Elsewhere an army ambush killed about 24 rebels on the outskirts of Damascus, said the Observatory. SANA put the toll at 40.
The army has closed in on Eastern Ghouta, a ring of rebel-held suburbs it has besieged for months and which was targeted in an August chemical attack that killed hundreds of people and almost led to punitive U.S. strikes.
UN and U.S. officials have expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... about Eastern Ghouta and other besieged Damascus suburbs, following reports of severe food shortages and rising malnutrition there.
Mushrooming humanitarian crisis
On Friday, U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos urged the Security Council to put "sustained pressure" on Syria to allow access to some 2.5 million trapped civilians.
The Observatory described a similarly dire situation in the central city of Homs, where it said some 3,000 civilians were trapped in an area sealed off by regime forces for more than a year.
"Three thousands civilians, among them 500 aged over 70, are living exclusively off the little food that had been stored in the besieged districts of Homs," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Further north, in the Sfeirah district near Aleppo, some 130,000 Syrians have fled non-stop heavy bombing in a "massive exodus" this month, said Doctors Without Borders.
A U.N.-commissioned report said more than half of Syria's population is living in poverty and warned that the economic devastation could last for years.
UN agencies said they were racing to vaccinate children against a host of diseases amid fears of a polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... outbreak, which would be the country's first since 1999.
The mushrooming humanitarian crisis, and the initial success in implementing a U.S.-Russian accord to dismantle Syria's chemical arsenal, have spurred renewed efforts to convene peace talks.
But despite pressure from its Western and Arab backers, the fractured Syrian opposition has yet to decide whether to attend the so-called Geneva 2 conference proposed for next month.
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10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"More than 115,000 people are estimated to have been killed, millions uprooted from their homes and tens of thousands trapped by the relentless fighting.
All of them Moslems. ( doing it to one another too ) But then....it IS the Religion of Peace.
#2
Money wins wars. If SA and the Gulf are willing to pony up the cash, the rebels still win.
In other news, a Druze has been appointed to lead Israel's Golani Brigade. Straws in the wind for a Druzistan from the Jordan border to well in Leb. Which mightely screws Hizbullah.
[An Nahar] Four people were killed in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... in overnight festivities between rival gunnies, the result of the spillover of the Syrian war, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.
NNA said the city witnessed the deadly gunbattles on Friday night, but the festivities subsided after 1:00 am.
And on Saturday, three more people were killed in the fighting as festivities intensified in the evening.
Again, gunnies from the districts of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen used machine-guns and Rocket Propelled Grenades, leaving four people dead overnight.
But the intensity of the fighting decreased in the early hours of Saturday. The hotspots, including the area of al-Mankoubine witnessed only intermittent gunfire.
The army again responded to the sources of fire and its forces patrolled in the area, NNA said.
But later on Saturday, the NNA reported that Mohammed al-Jundi and Abdul Rahman Hamzeh were maimed in sniper fire in the northern city.
It noted that al-Jundi is at death's door.
But the same source then said the injured man died of his wounds.
Radio Voice of Leb (93.3) remarked that Hamzeh was also killed.
And late on Saturday, the NNA added that Omar Abbas died in Bab al-Tabbaneh.
It noted that the fighting has intensified in the city in the evening.
The deaths have likely brought the toll of the latest round of festivities to 12. Dozens more have been injured.
Three of the injuries were reported early on Saturday when two men were maimed from stray bullets during the funeral of two men killed on Friday.
A third person was maimed from sniper fire.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. The whole thing smelled phony, kind of like a dead mackeral but without the scales... LBCI television announced that the vehicle of its team covering the festivities in Tripoli was hit by sniper fire.
"But no crew was injured in the incident," it noted.
Civil society activists held a sit-in later in the day, urging the state to impose security in Tripoli and asking the judiciary to issue verdicts against those who plotted and carried out the deadly mosque bombings in August.
Military units were seen on Saturday morning setting up a checkpoint at Abu Ali roundabout that links Tripoli with the northern district of Akkar. It checked IDs and inspected vehicles that took the major international highway.
The market was also open in areas that are not close to the hotspots. Shops, banks and businesses were back to work as usual but the Lebanese University campus in al-Qobbeh and schools near the tense areas remained closed.
Top officials have said that they have given the green light to the armed forces to bring the situation in Tripoli under control.
The fighting broke out Monday while an interview with Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... was being aired on al-Mayadeen television.
Residents of Bab al-Tabbaneh support the anti-Assad revolt, while those in Jabal Mohsen back Assad, and both sides have fought frequently since the Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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Three people died overnight in Lebanons northern city of Tripoli in clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrias regime, bringing to nine the toll this week, an official said on Saturday. Two of the casualties were Sunnis, said the security official. The third, an Alawi, died after he and an accomplice on a moped opened fire on an army roadblock and he was hit by return fire.
Sunni and Alawi gunmen have been fighting in the Bab Al Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen districts of Tripoli since Monday. Residents of Bab al-Tebbaneh support the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while those in Jabal Mohsen back Assad. They have fought frequently since the Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011.
Since the latest fighting broke out, six Sunnis have died and three Alawis. The higher Sunni toll is explained by the fact that Jabal Mohsen overlooks much more densely populated Bab Al Tebbaneh and because the Alawis are better organised, security sources said.
The northern port city is 80 per cent Sunni, with Christians and a smaller number of Alawis making up the balance.
Acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday that security forces will take every step to put an end to the violence and chaos in the city of 200,000. They will be strict and impartial.
As impartial as security forces could ever be...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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[NY Times] The Iranian authorities executed 16 Sunni hard boyz on Saturday, Iranian media reported, in retaliation for an attack a day earlier that killed 14 guards on the volatile southeastern border with Pakistain.
The 14 soldiers, most of them conscripts, were killed at dusk on Friday at a border post near the city of Saravan when a group of gunnies crossing the border gunned them down using automatic weapons, the semiofficial Iranian Students' News Agency reported on Saturday. Seven other soldiers were maimed, the news agency said, and some local reports said the attackers also took three guards hostage.
In retaliation, 16 "bandidos linked to groups against the system" were hanged early Saturday, Mohammad Marzieh, the chief prosecutor in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, told the semiofficial Fars news agency. It is unclear whether the executed men were already in jug in the province or were rounded up, but they were not believed to be connected to the border attack.
"We had issued warnings previously that bandidos and anti-Iran group members who commit acts causing damage to innocent people or security and military personnel will face reciprocal action by us," Mr. Marzieh said. "This morning, in retaliation for the martyrdom of border guards at the town of Saravan, we hanged 16 members of these anti-Iran groups. The judiciary will absolutely not tolerate such actions by these groups."
The retaliatory response highlights the deep tensions in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, a hotbed of Sunni resistance against the Shiite Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran. The border area shared by Iran, Pakistain and Afghanistan has long resembled a war zone, and more than 3,500 members of Iranian security forces have been killed in festivities with smugglers transporting heroin and opium to Iran, Turkey and Europe.
The attack on the border guards was preceded by the killing of two members of the influential Rigi family, who in the past decade have led an armed separatist struggle in the province seeking independence from Iran and involving suicide kabooms, liquidations and abductions.
Web sites connected to separatist groups said the men, Karim Rigi and Gholamreza Rigi, were killed on Oct. 16 by local Iranian security forces, although official Web sites deny involvement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Kurdish snuffies seized a Syrian border post on the frontier with Iraq early on Saturday, a monitoring group said, after three days of festivities with an al Qaeda-linked group which had held the crossing for more than a year.
The Yarubiya post and surrounding areas in the northeast were taken from the Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant rebel group, who had seized it from the army, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/27/2013 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[THEAUSTRALIAN.AU] AN Australian soldier and a New Zealand soldier have been 
BELED HAWO, Somalia -- Ethiopian troops in armored fighting vehicles reached Gedo region town of Beled Hawo in the early hours of Saturday morning to resolve grudges between Somali government forces and pro-government militia of Ahlu Sunah Wal Jamea , Garowe Online reports.
[An Nahar] A bomb 
[Al Ahram] Hundreds demonstrated on Saturday in downtown's Talaat Harb square against the newly proposed draft protest law, rallying under the banner "the street is ours."
[Pak Daily Times] Clashes between two rival groups in 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
